Search

Background: Higher education institutions and universities aim to provide students with a range of transferable skills that enable them to become more thoughtful and effective employees, citizens, and consumers. One of these skills is critical thinking. Objective: The aim of the present research was to examine whether taking a psychology degree is concomitant with students' increase in critical thinking skills when students are not explicitly taught critical thinking. Method: Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional design and Study 2 a longitudinal design. The Watson and Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA, UK) was used to measure critical thinking. Results: For both studies, the overall scores of WGCTA, as well as scores of the subtest of Recognition of Assumptions, were significantly higher for final-year than for first-year students. Conclusion: From the findings, we conclude that the levels of critical thinking by final-year psychology students may be enhanced. Teaching implications: We propose that teaching other aspects of critical thinking such as Evaluation of Arguments and Interpretation, as measured by this test, could be beneficial in further developing psychology students' overall critical thinking performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Language Teaching & Educational Research (LATER) is the property of Language Teaching & Educational Research (LATER) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: While most students undertaking bachelor level training in psychology will not become registered psychologists, as graduates they join a large pool of well‐educated and psychologically literate citizens who can apply psychology in a range of contexts. Our objective is to showcase the literature on capstone and work integrated learning (WIL) courses and outline how these specialised courses could be utilised to support undergraduate psychology students and ensure the community benefits from their strengths. Method: In this paper, we summarise the current issues, emerging trends, and educational priorities in this area. We provide a critical survey of the extensive literature produced in the last decade, offering a synthesis of current thinking in the field and perspectives on directions forward. We review and summarise different primary studies on capstone and WIL courses from which we draw conclusions into a holistic integration gained by the authors’ own experience and the available literature. Results: Capstone and WIL courses address a significant gap in the work readiness of Australian psychology undergraduates and may also consolidate these students’ psychological literacy. Conclusions: Developing a sense of professional identity and increasing self‐efficacy in these graduates can enhance students’ work readiness, potentially facilitating a smooth transition into professional work. We advocate for changes to the education of psychology undergraduates and outline the implications for the future workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article aims to determine the influence of using metacognitive strategies related to perish levels of psychology on learning conceptions of psychology undergraduates. 144 subjects from a north city in Chile participated in this study. It was administered the Questionnaire of Metacognitive Strategies (O'Neil & Abedi, 1996) and the Learning Conceptions Inventory (Martinez, 2004). Results showed significant correlations between learning conceptions with perish level and metacognitive strategies. However, a detailed analysis found significant results for each type of conception. These outcomes suggest that constructive and interpretative conceptions are greater influenced by the use of metacognitive strategies of learning, opposite to directive conception, which is explained, in a greater way, by levels of initial perish of psychology undergraduates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habilidades sociais que ocorrem com alta freqüência e pouca variabilidade podem ser consideradas como padrões, sugerindo características da cultura ou subcultura que são importantes na seleção de instrumentos de avaliação e no planejamento de intervenções. Este trabalho buscou caracterizar o repertório de habilidades sociais de estudantes de Psicologia com base em amostras de 4 localidades: São Paulo (SP), Bahia (BA), Minas Gerais (MG) e Rio de Janeiro (RJ), verificando diferenças entre elas, inclusive em termos da influência do sexo e idade. Quinhentos e sessenta e quatro estudantes responderam 1 inventário de auto-relato IHS- Del-Prette & A. Del Prette, 2001, cujos itens agrupavam-se em 5 fatores: F1) enfrentamento e auto-afirmação; F2) expressão de afeto positivo; F3) conversação e desenvoltura social; F4) auto-exposição a desconhecidos e situações novas; e F5) autocontrole da agressividade. Com base no escore geral (EG) e escores fatoriais (F1, F2, Fe, F4 e F5), foram efetuadas análises comparativas por localidade e, em cada uma delas, por sexo e idade (ANOVA seguida de teste t ou Scheffé). Os resultados indicaram que: a) os estudantes de Psicologia apresentaram escores mais altos que os da amostra normativa no EG, F1, F3 e F4 e inferiores no F2 e F5, mas as diferenças de sexo seguiram os padrões normativos; b) houve influência da localidade, sexo e idade sobre os escores, com interação local-sexo e local-idade; c) as amostra de MG, BA, RJ e SP apresentaram perfil semelhante para F3 e F4, mas RJ apresentou escores mais altos no F1, MG e SP no F2 e F5; d) houve mais diferenças de gênero na BA e menos no RJ; e) as diferenças de idade ocorreram no F4 (favoráveis aos mais novos para SP) e no F5 (favoráveis aos mais velhos para BA e RJ). Discute-se as diferenças e semelhanças encontradas, levantando-se hipóteses e questões para pesquisa adicionais.Social skills occurring in a high frequency and low variability can be taken as patterns, suggesting cultural or sub-cultural features which are important when selecting instruments for evaluation and planning interventions. This research aimed to characterize the social skills repertoire among Psychology students from 4 Brazilian places: São Paulo (SP), Bahia (BA), Minas Gerais (MG)e Rio de Janeiro (RJ), also examining their differences and the influence of sex and age on their patterns. Five hundred sixty four Psychology undergraduates completed a self-report inventory (IHS-del-Prette) with a structure of 5 factors: F1) coping and assertion; F2) expressing positive affection; F3) talking and self-confidence; F4) dealing with unknown people and new situations; F5) aggressiveness self-control. The samples were compared considering general (GS) and factorial (F1, F2, F3, F4 e F5) scores as well as sex and age influence in each one (ANOVA, followed by t or Scheffé test). The results showed that: a) Psychology students presented higher scores than normative sample in the GS, F1, F3 and F4 and lower in the F2 and F5, but sex differences were similar to the normative pattern; b) place, sex and age significantly affected the scores, with place-sex and place-age interactions; c) samples from MG, BA, RJ and SP presented similar profiles, with higher values for RJ in the F1 and for MG and SP in the F2 and F5; d) students from BA presented the highest sex differences and from RJ the lowest ones; e) age differences occurred in the F4 (favorable to younger students for SP) and in the F5 (favorable to older ones for BA and RJ). The meaning of these differences and similarities are discussed as well as some explanatory hypotheses and questions for further studies.

Social skills occurring in a high frequency and low variability can be taken as patterns, suggesting cultural or sub-cultural features which are important when selecting instruments for evaluation and planning interventions. This research aimed to characterize the social skills repertoire among Psychology students from 4 Brazilian places: São Paulo (SP), Bahia (BA), Minas Gerais (MG)e Rio de Janeiro (RJ), also examining their differences and the influence of sex and age on their patterns. Five hundred sixty four Psychology undergraduates completed a self-report inventory (IHS-del-Prette) with a structure of 5 factors: F1) coping and assertion; F2) expressing positive affection; F3) talking and self-confidence; F4) dealing with unknown people and new situations; F5) aggressiveness self-control. The samples were compared considering general (GS) and factorial (F1, F2, F3, F4 e F5) scores as well as sex and age influence in each one (ANOVA, followed by t or Scheffé test). The results showed that: a) Psychology students presented higher scores than normative sample in the GS, F1, F3 and F4 and lower in the F2 and F5, but sex differences were similar to the normative pattern; b) place, sex and age significantly affected the scores, with place-sex and place-age interactions; c) samples from MG, BA, RJ and SP presented similar profiles, with higher values for RJ in the F1 and for MG and SP in the F2 and F5; d) students from BA presented the highest sex differences and from RJ the lowest ones; e) age differences occurred in the F4 (favorable to younger students for SP) and in the F5 (favorable to older ones for BA and RJ). The meaning of these differences and similarities are discussed as well as some explanatory hypotheses and questions for further studies.